


The Split

by cloudfree



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Adventure, Angst, F/F, Friendship/Love, Homeworld Hierarchy (Steven Universe), Insecurity, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Ruby, Reunions, Slow Build, Tags May Change, falling in love all over again
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-06-11 19:28:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15322614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudfree/pseuds/cloudfree
Summary: Garnet is captured by the diamonds and forced to separate, and Yellow Diamond decides to punish them in the worst way: Ruby is sent to be shattered, and Sapphire’s memory of her time as a Crystal Gem is wiped permanently, leaving her a shell of her former self that is promptly returned to Blue Diamond's court. Can they find their way back to each other again, miles and memories apart from each other?A story about loyalty, triumph, and falling in love all over again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So this is my first multichapter fic, and I'm usually terrible at updating so before this I was a little afraid to try writing and publishing one of these. This idea came to me when Ruby and Sapphire split after hearing about Rose Quartz in "Now We're Only Falling Apart" (that was one of the saddest and most emotionally-charged scenes I've ever watched, and I loved it), and I thought, why not? So I wrote it down, and here it is!
> 
> Updates will probably be really irregular, and I wanna apologize in advance for this. I've been going through a rough patch lately and I'm trying to use writing as a tool to cope, but a lot of the time I have to go back and change things around and make a crap ton of edits because sometimes the whole thing is just clumsy, if you know what I mean. Anyway, I hope you'll stick around till the end, and I hope you enjoy :)

 

Ruby awakes, cold.

That’s the first thing she realizes - it’s _cold._ And empty, somehow. She doesn’t feel right. Nothing feels right.

She looks down at her two hands, at her own gemstone nestled between the fingers on her left palm and the unfettered, unmarked right hand clenching at nothing.

She’s always taken comfort in looking at her own two hands, at the two gems always together - one on each palm. It’s a form of solidarity, of companionship. Of knowing she’ll never be alone again. No matter what happens, her and Sapphire? They’ll be together till the end.

Then she remembers, the unfamiliar emptiness hitting her like a slap to the face.

“Sapphire!” She calls loudly, “Sapphire, where are you? Can you hear me?”

A distant echo is her only response, and her fists clench in frustration. What happened? Where is she? Where is Sapphire? If something happened to her…

 _No._ She shakes her head. _Better not think about that now._

She vaguely remembers fighting alongside the other Crystal Gems, that was a while ago -- and something got her, obviously, because she’s here now. But that’s all she can recall.

The room around her is large, empty. She doesn’t know where she is - where Steven, Pearl, or Amethyst are. _Where Sapphire is._ Her mind clouds with fear and confusion. If only she were still fused. If Garnet was here, she’d know exactly what to do.

She already misses Sapphire’s cool touch, her soft hands brushing Ruby’s hair from her forehead. Misses the sweet nothings she knows Ruby loves to hear on her lips, the ghost-like kisses she gives. Sapphire is the gentle logic of their relationship, the one to ease all of Ruby's fears with just one gentle touch, that’s the truth. And without her, Ruby is _so_ lost.

When it all got too much, when things became too complicated or strange or just plain _infuriating,_ Sapphire had always been there. “Patience, _Ruby,”_ Sapphire would say placatingly, laying her gemstone’s hand on Ruby’s shoulder, _“All is well.”_ And almost as if by a miracle, the raging fog of Ruby’s conscious would thin and cool, and her mind would be tamed and become whole again. This was the effect Sapphire had on her.

She hasn’t spent this much time away from her partner in thousands of years. It’s become commonplace to hear her voice, woven with hers in Garnet’s head, to hear her soothing reassurances in Ruby’s most dangerous moments, in the times she gets so angry the world around her burns and fire fills her vision and --

“You’re awake,” someone says behind her. Startling, she turns around.

“Amethyst?” she asks, confusion lacing her tone. When she looks, it suddenly occurs to her that that’s not her amethyst. This one’s got darker skin, and lighter hair. She’s taller too -- almost as tall as a Jasper -- and the dark, threatening gemstone that replaces her right eye glimmers menacingly in the stained light. But the look on her face is bored, unyielding.

“I was s’posed to watch you until you reformed,” she says lazily, crossing her bulky arms, “took you long enough.”

“W-where am I?” Ruby stutters, giving her environment another once-over, taking in the high ceilings and the monochrome color. With patterned floors and gaudy stained glass windows, the blackness of the outside world filtering in through them; the yellow diamond insignia emblazoned on her companion’s chest. Clarity hits her like a freight train.

_Homeworld._

She takes an involuntary breath of the air she hasn’t felt on her form in thousands of years. Her eyes connect with the door on the far wall, the one made inaccessible by the quartz soldier standing in front of her. She remembers events long passed, duties long forsaken.Things she’d do all over again in a heartbeat.

So she’s back home, to a place she never thought she’d return to, and Sapphire isn’t here with her, and everything is going to dust.

“I think you know _exaaaactly_ where you are, squirt,” the amethyst drawls, chuckling when Ruby tries to punch her in retaliation for the nickname, “You’re basically a traitor to the entire Gem race, I mean, where else would they put you?”

“Don’t call me that,” Ruby huffs petulantly.

“Yeah?” The amethyst is darkly amused. “Or _what?”_  

“Or I’ll -- I’ll --” Ruby’s hands clench into fists. She’s shaking.

The amethyst snorts, and her smile is dangerous and thin. “Don’t hurt yourself, _squirt._ ” she calls mockingly.

Ruby sees red, for a brief, terrible moment. But then a shade, a distant memory of Sapphire’s cool words press imprints into Ruby’s skin, into her mind. _Focus. Keep calm._

_Breathe, Ruby._

“I need to find a Sapphire,” says Ruby through gritted teeth, her anger kept in check by the sheer force of her will. Her tone is clipped. “I was captured with another gem, and I won’t leave here without her." 

The amethyst’s smile fades, replaced by a mask of stone and unyielding sternness. This is the soldier she was made to be, the rough, hardened quartz serving its purpose. A purpose even Ruby had to fill once, here on Homeworld, even if it was a slightly different one. “Oh, you’re not going anywhere. You're strictly prohibited to, on my Diamond's orders.”

“Yeah? You gonna make me stay here?” spits Ruby, clenching her fists and raising them in an approximation of a fighting stance, “I may be only one Ruby, and you might be a big stupid quartz, but I can take you on myself if I have to. I can even take on Yellow Diamond herself if I have to, and believe me, I _will._ ” 

Ruby startles as something akin to fear flickers across the soldier’s face, and she steps back in anticipation. But the amethyst looks unnerved for barely a moment before melting into laughter, clutching at her stomach with barely contained mirth as she guffaws in a way that is eerily similar to their amethyst, who’s probably back home, looking for Garnet with Steven and Pearl and everyone else... 

She hopes they’re okay. Even more than finding Sapphire, she hopes that the Crystal Gems are safe.

“You’re funny, I’ll give you that,” the Amethyst chortles, snapping Ruby out of her trance. Her glaring gemstone eye glows briefly before the tip of a rapier materializes through it, sliding easily into the soldier's hands.

She swings the weapon once or twice in the air experimentally, looking thoughtful, before pointing it straight at Ruby. The smaller gem gulps, body tensely locked in combat position. “But seriously. You can’t leave. It’s either you that gets shattered, or me, and, uh, I’m too young to be shattered. I only formed, like, _yesterday._ ”

“Wait, _what_?” Ruby stops, shocked. She lowers her arms. “Shattered?”

Amethyst narrows her eyes at her, as if challenging her to defend herself. “You aided the rebellion against homeworld on the planet Earth. You caused the intentional shattering of thousands of Homeworld gems. If that ain’t bad enough, you went and _fused_ with a gem waay above your caste level. And you’re surprised that you’re being shattered? Yellow Diamond’s being _merciful,_ if you ask me.”

Well, yeah, this isn’t too surprising, Ruby considers, before remembering that the same might happen to her partner. “What’re they gonna do to Sapphire?” Ruby demands, stepping closer. The tip of the rapier stops against her chest, warning her to keep her distance, but she pushes through stubbornly. “I’m just a common Ruby, so I can be shattered. But what about Sapphire? She’s _important.”_

She watches the gears moving in her guard’s head as she mulls over the situation. An uncomfortable silence fills the air, but Ruby watches the amethyst with rapt attention, waiting to see what she'll say.

“Oh, I think my Diamond’s got a plan for her,” the amethyst says after a while, tone brightening with pride as she mentions her charge, “but I can’t really tell you the plan. Confidentiality and all that - you understand, right?” Her voice lowers, almost sympathetic.

Ruby fights a growl of frustration, trying to cool her steadily boiling nerves. She turns away from the other gem, huffing. Silently she paces, round and around and around, her footsteps burning angry impressions into the ground. Sapphire’s words fade away. _C’mon, Ruby. Keep calm. You got this, Ruby. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…_

A sudden, devious little thought sprouts up within her. “I mean, yeah,” she says slowly, a dubious smirk working its way into her features, “but who could I _possibly_ tell? I’m due to be shattered, anyway. No one will know if you, say, told me this plan? One gem to the other?”

She hopes the amethyst does not know what she’s doing. Hopes she only sees the outward coy smirk that Ruby gives her, eyelashes fluttering as she bats them in a way that seems inviting, that makes her look harmless as she plots to escape.

Peering up at the gem through hooded lashes, Ruby can see the indecision on her face, the hesitant yet gleeful anticipation set to burst at any minute. Then, as the amethyst’s features erupt with scandalous pleasure, Ruby relaxes. She’s taken the bait.

“Fine. You’re right, anyway. What harm would it do,” the one-eyed gem waves a hand carelessly. Her mind is elsewhere, too preoccupied with the spread of gossip to really pay attention to Ruby’s motives.

“Yep. What harm would it do…” echoes Ruby, trying to keep her budding elation hidden from her guard.

The amethyst begins to speak, words hurried and jumbling and tripping over each other. “Okay. So your girlfriend’s not gonna get shattered, obviously --” Ruby breathes a sigh of relief at this news -- “but her past, the time she spent with the likes of _you -_ all of it’s corrupted her. Made her... _rebellious_.” She whispers the last word like it’s a curse, spits it out like poison.

“And?” Ruby demands impatiently, “What’s gonna happen to her?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” the quartz says says, looking at her like she’s suddenly grown another gemstone, “She's too valuable to be shattered, like I said. Her memories will be wiped.”

 

~~

 

Sapphire is alone.

They laid her out on a table, told her to take as much time as she needed to reform, and then they left her there. Alone.

The solitude doesn’t scare her as much as it should. Ruby is in danger, and so is she, but panicking never really helped anybody so she just lies there, numb.

Her and Ruby together, as Garnet, have always been strong, resolute, but apart they are flawed, and small, and _alone_. Ruby is not with her now, her warm, spontaneous presence absent and instead replaced with an emptiness so foreboding it chills her to her core. Everything is different, so explainable yet so unexplainable at the same time.

For the first time in thousands of years, Sapphire feels herself shrinking under the uncertainty of their combined future.

She knows exactly what they will do. If it all goes to plan, they will shatter Ruby and remove any trace of her from Sapphire’s mind. All of the freedom, all of her friends - gone, like a momentary gust of wind. Everything she had fought for, up to this moment, would be wrest from her and she would be forced to return to her duties as a blind, shining member of Blue Diamond’s court.

A laugh rips itself from her synthetic vocal cords, a hollow, empty sound.

In the end, it is only the future which stays with her. Which will always stay with her, even when the past has become dust and the present splits and weaves around her like the tides of a distant ocean.

Ruby is probably fighting tooth and nail for her, somewhere far away from here. She doesn’t doubt it. Her lover is fire incarnate, passionate and impulsive and so unpredictable. A gem who would go to the ends of the earth for her. A gem that Sapphire herself would break time itself for. Yet when the desire to escape wiggles uselessly in the back of her mind, she pushes it away without a second thought.

She ought to get up and find a way to escape, her mind screams, but her Sight tells her it is futile. There are heavily armed guards at each door and the perimeter is fortified against her powers. It would take nothing short of a miracle for even her simplest movements to avoid detection.

They come for her in a matter of hours; A passing Ruby -- _not her Ruby,_ her mind insists -- notices that she has reformed and alerts the Peridots in charge of erasing her memories. As they drag her to the Wiping Room, a place devoid of any color or feeling or the _life_ she’s become so accustomed to in her life on Rose's Earth, she waits for her fate.

Shackles bind her now as the peridots leave her alone again. The pod is hard and uncomfortable. A blinding light fills her eyes, her ears, her very being. It drowns out everything else. Even the future is hidden from her now.

Locked into the machine, she screams.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little bit shorter than the first one, because I needed to get a few things out of the way. But I updated! I'm glad that you guys liked the first chapter. So here's the next. Enjoy!
> 
> The third chapter is probably gonna be longer than this one, so don't worry about me making chapters shorter and shorter, lol. But it'll probably take a bit longer for me to post as a result. Hope you'll stick around!

“Oh _no,”_ Ruby breathes in horror, ignoring the amethyst entirely. Her pacing increases to a stuttering, agitated run. “I have to find her, I can’t just let her -- she’ll --”

“Hey!” the gem behind her shouts. “Are you listening to me?” Her voice echoes through the chamber, a sour tang echoing through the air.

Ruby pretends she hasn’t heard. Right now she has to _think._ She can feel the fog in her mind returning, can feel its raging influence enveloping her like a storm. If she can’t get herself out of here, if she can’t calm down, Sapphire will…

She’s familiar with this course of action, where a Gem’s mind gets wiped and rebooted, almost like the characters in some of those video games that Steven likes to play so much. She’d seen it happen before, right in front of her. Thousands of years ago, when Rose Quartz’s rebellion was just an afterthought, and no one had yet begun to take her or her ideals seriously.

It had been a Rainbow Obsidian, another high-ranking member of Blue Diamond’s court, maybe even higher than Sapphire herself. A master strategizer tasked with maintaining lesser colonies and commanding hordes of gem soldiers, she had been beloved -- and feared -- by all.

Until it came out that she was consorting illegally with her Pearl. Ruby remembers watching her, forced to stand in the center of the city as a laughingstock as the lesser gem was shattered right in front of her. Then they’d dragged the obsidian off to the Wiping Room as they called it, and she was swiftly returned to her duties with no memory of the event, her name an object of vicious scorn. No one ever spoke of her again, but her treachery -- her crimes were whispered about for centuries and centuries to come.

Thinking of Sapphire becoming like that, of becoming another puppet for the Diamonds to use yet _again,_ after all they’ve faced together -- it’s all too much. She won’t remember Ruby. Won’t remember Garnet, or Amethyst, or Pearl or Steven or Rose or _anybody, damn it,_ and that’s on Ruby. She can’t let that happen. She _won’t._

Her hand trembles as she points at her quartz guard. “You,” Ruby says curtly. The amethyst suddenly goes quiet at her interruption, looking mildly indignant. “You have to help me get me out of here.”

“Yeah?” The amethyst crosses her arms sourly. “Or what?”

“Or I’ll just have to make you,” Ruby growls, fists clenching tightly, “and it won’t be pretty, _mark my words.”_

She hadn’t expected the amethyst to make it easy for her, and she won’t. She doesn’t want to fight -- it’s the _last_ thing she wants to do right now. But judging from their conversation, that’s just what’s gearing to happen. Ruby readies herself hesitantly.

“In case you haven’t noticed from the conversation we had not two seconds ago, you’re gonna be shattered,” the amethyst retorts, an ugly smirk on her face. “And besides, why would I help a traitor to the gem race?”

“Because this _traitor’s_ gonna smash your face in if you don’t," Ruby says through gritted teeth.

She barks out a laugh. “Yeah, okay, try again.”

This condescending attitude, the way the amethyst seems to not even _care_ that Ruby’s here, not even recognizing her as a worthy opponent, not recognizing that she needs help, that Sapphire needs help…

Fury erupts within her like a sudden explosion, and all Ruby sees is red.

“ _Aargh!_ ” Ruby launches herself at the amethyst, legs propelling her forward at top speed. A vicious cry erupts from her throat, and she aims a punch straight at the other gem’s face.

 

~~

 

White haze.

A white haze, thick and tinted blue passes through Sapphire’s vision. Her eye opens, and it occurs to her that she’d been staring up at her closed eyelid, in her confusion.

Something like a bitter sense of amusement courses through her, which is strange — she’s not accustomed to feeling such unnecessary emotions, really — and then she sits up.

A great, empty hall showered in a brilliant shade of cerulean (her Diamond favors this color greatly, she remembers with a flourish) greets her, void of anyone else, but she can sense the noisy footsteps of other gems clamoring just beyond the glimmering halls.

There’s a curious blankness in her mind, a haze that has been faded and smoothed over and worn down to be almost unnoticeable to her, but she senses it regardless.

No one knows her mind as well as she; no one has unwound her inner workings and understood her as much as herself. So she would know if something within had been tampered with.

And tampered with it has been.

Yes, her superiors are probably behind this. Perhaps she was behaving unsatisfactorily or she saw something she shouldn’t have. Or perhaps they felt she was in need of a reset, of a reboot (it is not uncommon for a gem of her standing to have her memories deleted or ‘cleaned’, as they called it, to ensure full loyalty to their commanding authority). That would explain why her memory is so fragmented, disjointed like the shards of a broken mirror, like the one that her Diamond loves to stand in front of and admire herself in, voice tinkling like starshine.

A voice and the sound of a door closing startles her out of her reverie. “My lady, are you finally awake?” It’s a Holly Blue Agate, one she is unfamiliar with and has never seen before. _That I have never seen before,_ she thinks with a jolt of surprise, because she knows (or will know, at least) every single member of Blue Diamond’s court. The unfamiliarity blindsides her for a brief moment.

Almost instantly, Sapphire calms again. She must be gentle with herself. It has been mere minutes since she reformed; of course she will be disoriented by it all.

“I’ve never seen you here before,” Sapphire says absently, stroking the gem on her right hand.

The agate makes a noncommittal noise of agreement. Her voice is composed and polite, but Sapphire can see the cold hardness of inauthenticity in her steel eyes. “I would love to stay and chat with you, my lady, but Blue Diamond has requested your presence.”

“I know,” Sapphire says.

Holly Blue Agates are known for their efficiency and orderliness, but their intelligence and patience is greatly lacking in return. So there is no wonder that this gem has forgotten that Sapphire already knows what is to happen. She could probably map the exact date that this agate will expire, if she wanted to.

With a burst of satisfaction, she feels her Sight returning within her, can feel its power bridging gaps and filling the cracks in her damaged memory, rushing over her like cool water and soothing the confused haze that had been left behind in the wake of her reformation.

The agate nods. “Follow me.”

Her power is renewed. She is safe, whole, _free_ of whatever had caused her Diamond to issue the command to wipe her memory in the first place. Happiness fills her at the thought of serving Blue Diamond again. It is what she was made to do, after all.

And Sapphire knows what she has to do. She’s known what she’s had to do since the day she was formed. Following the other gem closely, Sapphire resolves that nothing will get in her way, not anymore.

She will not disappoint her Diamond again.

 

~~

 

Ruby looks down at the amethyst gemstone lying on the ground in front of her.

It hadn’t been a particularly rough battle, in her opinion. Sure, she’s more used to fighting alongside Sapphire, the two of them joined as Garnet, and she’s more accustomed to having the kick of Future Vision to tell her what the opponent might be thinking to use against her, but it’s not like she can’t hold her own in a match. Despite the height difference (and the weapon difference, Ruby was basically unarmed for this whole brawl), she’d won. And now she’s got to escape, because she can already hear a gaggle of other gems coming over to see what’s up.

The stone glistens almost apologetically in front of her, and Ruby wonders what kind of life this amethyst had to lead. It’s only been her first few days, after all. It’ll be a tragedy, but she’ll definitely be shattered for letting this Ruby — this traitor, as she is now called — escape the facility.

She’ll be seen as weak, as worthless. Other amethysts will pick on her, use her as an example for what a proud, upstanding Quartz gem should _not_ be. An outcast, doomed to spend her first, and last days jeered at and mocked before her demise.

It's things like these, living like _this_ , the cruelty of her peers — it’s why Ruby hates this place with every fiber of her being. Even thinking of being different from the norm gets you punished, or scorned, or even shattered. It’s all so unfair, and no one should have to go through that. Not ever.

Ruby doesn’t know when she became so sappy. She also doesn’t know what the hell she’s thinking, pulling something like this. Maybe the stress of it all has gotten to her, and maybe her missing Sapphire has made her more sympathetic, more open to wild, unpredictable courses of action without her lover’s careful regulation.

Yet the angry, raging fog in her brain is surprisingly clear as she picks up the amethyst, bubbles it in her hand, and breaks into a run for the door.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking of continuing this progressively based on the number of hits and/or kudos I get. I promise I'm not doing it for popularity, I just get suuper encouraged when I see that people are actually reading my work and waiting for regular updates and that helps me write better and write more too. So please be sure to leave a kudos if you think my work deserves it :) 
> 
> Until next time!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I didn't abandon this fic! I got a burst of inspiration and wrote another chapter! More to come :)
> 
> This is more of a Sapphire centric chapter. Next one will be more focused on Ruby, and the Amethyst she snagged.

 

Sapphire bows before she even feels Blue Diamond’s large, soulful eyes on her.

“Greetings, my Diamond,” she says humbly, ignoring the hushed gasps and thudding of knees as the various other gems rush to kneel by her feet. The hall is full of them, lesser, weaker gems than her who follow her Diamond like pests, eager to please and serve yet never really doing so in the end.

“Sapphire.” She says, the barest hint of warmth in her tone. The gem feels tempted to preen at the fact that Blue Diamond’s full attention is on her, a bolt of pride bursting through her body. “Welcome back.”  
  
And that is all that comes out of her mouth. No explanation to why Sapphire was wiped, or any indication that she had even noticed her absence (not that Sapphire expected anything of the sort from her). Her face is taut and worn, faded like the pages of a tome written centuries ago. Her mouth is still trembling with something akin to grief, although none of that grief is reserved for Sapphire, she knows that.

It seems a wise approach to hold her tongue in regards to this line of thinking, so Sapphire does. There is no resentment for Blue Diamond in her mind. She is but an object at her disposal, a tool to be used. And Blue Diamond can use her in any way she sees fit.

Instead, Sapphire asks, “What do you require of me, my Diamond?”

Blue Diamond frowns. “You are aware of the fact that you were wiped, are you not?”

Sapphire bows elegantly, her face level to the ground. The floor shimmers and Blue Diamond’s towering reflection on the tiles bids her to rise again. “A most merciful decision, my Diamond,” she says simply.

“Yes, well…”

A sudden crashing open of the doors at the far end of the hall cuts Blue Diamond’s speech short. Whatever she was going to say dies in her throat. Everyone turns to look, almost accusingly, at the lowly amethyst guard that stands panting in the doorway, the glossy yellow insignia of her assigned diamond emblazoned on her chest. A bead of sweat trickles down her temple.

“My diamond!” She says, but holds her tongue in wait for the matriarch’s approval. She watches the courtroom like a cornered animal.

Blue Diamond glares at her. “I hope this is important.” The amethyst seems to wilt under her gaze. Sapphire watches impassively as the guard kneads the gemstone nestled in her left hand with silent consternation. Something about that gesture seems familiar, somehow…

“Uh, y-yes, you see…” she trails off, unsure, “I bring a message from Yellow Diamond's patrol. They have...l-lost the prisoner.”

A shocked gasp, chorused by everyone present, emanates throughout the room, bouncing off the walls and right into the amethyst’s face. Even the diamond sitting on the throne, their inscrutable, enigmatic ruler, wears an expression that is just a bit short of scandalized. 

“You _what_.” Blue Diamond says. It is not a question.

The gem lets out an undignified squeak. “W-we are working very hard to find this rogue, my Diamond, she has kidnapped the posted guard, a-and --”

Holding up a hand, Blue Diamond speaks. Her tone radiates with authority, and it causes the whole palace, it seems, to go silent. Everyone waits with bated breath, all eyes fixated on her. But not Sapphire. Head turned slightly, her gaze, hidden by her long pale blue bangs, is trained solely on the amethyst, gauging her every reaction with piqued interest.

“You mean to tell me,” Blue Diamond says dangerously, “that you fools _lost_ the prisoner?” That traitorous, _Ruby_ prisoner who was responsible for - “ She seems to realize something, just then. Sapphire just barely catches the quick glance the diamond gives her, but it is enough to send waves of suspicion sweeping through her head.

She waits for the matriarch to finish, but the diamond has gone strangely silent. Uncomfortably, Sapphire starts to become aware of the pointed, almost accusing stares that everyone else in the courtroom seems to be aiming at her.

Her Sight may be useful to her right now. Like an ocean of knowledge, the future beckons to her mind with gentle, wavelike undulations, tempting her with whispers of information about her lost memory. But Sapphire pushes it away. Whatever this Ruby soldier had done to her to warrant her wiping, she has no right to know. Unless Blue Diamond relays to her this knowledge, she must swallow her curiosity and forego looking into the future. It is all out of respect, after all.

Sighing inwardly, Sapphire tries her best to remain impassive, standing stock still in the middle of the courtroom. This is all for the best, anyway. It would be better for her to remain ignorant of her past crimes, lest she feel tempted to commit them again.

“Nonetheless,” Blue Diamond continues suddenly, making everyone but Sapphire jump - she knew it was coming - , “it matters not what she has done. I will send Yellow some reinforcements to try and salvage this utter mess. You," she bites at the amethyst, causing her to flinch violently, "must  _find her. Immediately.”_ The last few words are hissed, almost spat out, and the amethyst at the door gulps.

“Right away, my diamond.” Her salute is rushed, and she’s out the door before anyone can call out for her. The room remains silent.

Blue Diamond turns back to look at her. “It is...good to have you back, Sapphire,” she says awkwardly, after a long pause. Sapphire bows humbly.

“Thank you, my Diamond,” Sapphire says, her nose nearly touching the floor, “Not as pleasurable as it is for me to continue to serve in your court.” Her hair cascades down and shimmers in its reflection on the polished crystal of the floor. Sapphire takes a second to examine the face peering back at her. One eye stares up almost resentfully into her own, and the quality of her form is haggard and worn, even in the brilliant glare of the tiles. Not very becoming of a courtier.

“Rise.” Blue Diamond says, waving a hand. Sapphire rises.

“My Diamond?”

“Return to your quarters until I have further need of you,” Blue Diamond says distractedly, her attention turned elsewhere. No doubt, she is thinking of the traitor, or of more pressing things. It must have been heinous, whatever this Ruby had done to deserve her wrath. Relief fills Sapphire at the prospect of not having been shattered for it.

Yet she cannot help but think. That Ruby, foot soldier as she might be, she will be not be shown the same mercy. Rubies, insignificant, standard gems like her are supposed to be expendable, after all. While Sapphire trusts her Diamond’s counsel implicitly, she’s never been able to fully agree with shattering a gem for their crimes. It seems...too barbaric a fate for any.

But she is not the Diamond, she reminds herself, and she is not giving the orders here, so she must sit and wait for them to be given without any prior reservation.

A sudden memory hits her like a solid mass, a foggy haze careening straight at her like a boulder from the quarry mines. Blinded, Sapphire stumbles, then snaps her eye up to meet her Diamond’s. But the matriarch isn’t there.

Instead, she’s staring into the tired, agonized face of an unknown Ruby. Her gem is cracked and chipped, and she holds one arm at a strange, crooked angle. She is shouting inaudibly, cradling something in her uninjured hand.

Before she had been wiped, Sapphire vaguely recalls having a trail of Ruby guards at her beck and call. They were mostly deadpan when they addressed her, and followed her requests obligingly and expressionlessly, but she could see them laughing and talking amongst themselves when they thought her back was turned. It was...refreshing, in a way. With all of the straitlaced humdrum of Homeworld and its denizens, it was nice to see someone act so freely every once in a while.

Strangely, she had been able to recall each of their names and faces before, but now...everything comes vague, muddled, and nearly nonexistent. Sapphire stares up into the Ruby’s wary face. “Who..are you?” she murmurs, but knows the answer from the bubbled Amethyst gemstone she sees in its right hand.  
  
“...pphire?.....Sapphire!” Blue Diamond’s impatient voice cuts through her thoughts like a Pearl’s sword. She shakes her head, blinking rapidly. The Ruby specter is gone, and now everyone is staring at her again.

“Y-yes, my Diamond, my sincerest apologies,” she stutters, annoyed at the way her voice shakes, “I was...overwhelmed.”

The Diamond doesn’t seem to notice, now tapping away idly at a mainframe. “Take leave of me, now. I have more pressing matters to attend to.”

Sapphire curtsies politely. “Of course, my Diamond.”

As she is led out of the hall and into the adjoining corridor by the sour faced agate she had encountered earlier, Sapphire busies herself with admiring the ornate tapestries decorating the length of each wall. The ancient stories and myths depicted on them resonate with her vaguely, but her mind keeps wandering to the rogue Ruby soldier she had seen in her vision.

Most alarming to her is how _intensely_ she had been thrown into this premonition. Normally, Sapphire is able to control her Sight effortlessly, without even batting her eyelash. She prides herself on it - not many have that much control, after all - but this...this was something else. This was something she had absolutely no sway over. It unnerves her.  
  
But she shrugs it off. Perhaps it is merely a side effect of her wipe.

Sapphire simply needs some time to relax, that is all. The stress of everything which must have happened is taking a toll on her, and her Sight by extension.

It will all return to normal soon. She is sure of it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure to leave kudos if you feel it's deserved!


End file.
